Acron: Attack of the Squirrels, an asymmetrical VR game (1 person in VR, up to 8 people on Mobile devices) provides an excellent tool for utilizing different strengths to accomplish one goal. The VR player takes the position of a large tree protecting its acorns from attacking squirrels.
The squirrels (players on mobile) have different skills including digging, extra speed, shield, and building ramps. The squirrels must work together to strategize ways of taking the acorns away from the tree without the tree seeing them, which requires a combination of tactics using the different skills of the squirrels.
This game is great as you can have team members join the same experience nationwide, and only 1 person requires a VR headset to play.
Rec Room
Rec Room is a platform our team has used for meetings. We covered its professional uses in our recent blog about the top 3 pro’s and con’s of virtual meetings, but this platform contains a whole suite of activities that teams could use to connect and enjoy together. Basketball, yoga classes, laser tag games, frisbee, free-creation mode are just a few experiences that can be shared between co-workers. This platform can currently be accessed through Steam, iOS, Oculus, and Playstation.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes brings a group together in a VR/PC crossover game to defuse a virtual bomb within a predetermined time frame. The defuser (using a VR headset) is in a virtual locked room with a bomb containing several puzzles to solve. They need to solve the puzzles in a predetermined time frame. The remaining teammates, called the experts, cannot see the bomb or any visuals of the defuser, BUT they have the instructions on how to solve the puzzles.
The experts have to relay the correct information to the defuser in order to solve all the puzzles and defuse the bomb, and failing to do so results in your team exploding! This game provides a great way for teams to think under high-pressure situations, and clearly communicate tasks to one another.
This game is not limited to VR and is available to play with PC, Xbox and PS4 consoles. Another point to add is the experts and defuser would usually communicate the audio commands in the same room, so for this to work in the times of COVID teams can utilize existing platforms like Zoom and google hangouts for communication during the game.
Spaceteam VR is a recently launched VR game that brings a team together to keep a spaceship from crashing while hurtling through space. It uses a unique puzzle system utilizing “made up” words and signals that need to be decrypted by the team members. This game brings players out of their traditional thought process and creates a silly and fun experience for all the players involved! Originally developed for mobile, this game works best with everyone in a VR headset.
Another game that utilizes 4 unique player strategies is StarTrek : Bridge Crew – the next generation which allows you to play as the Captain, Helm, Tactical, or Engineer to guide the ship through an unknown part of space.
This game provides intricate communication strategies in high-pressure situations, and employees who are StarTrek fans will appreciate the effort that’s been put into this game.
These are just a few ways to get creative with your team in VR, and we are optimistic more experiences like these are on their way soon!